Let Me Live
by buttscuzyolo
Summary: Meet Connor, who just wants to live. Shield could use the power to see the future, but will Connor give it up? Story about a mutant with the power to see into the future who is forced to decide between living a normal life, well...close to it, or doing what Shield thinks it needs. Does Connor know better?
1. Chapter 1

A simple life with simple circumstances. That's all I had. Before I figured out what I was, anyway. I was only 5 deciding whether or not to do my homework.

If I did my grade got better and the teacher would be happy.

If I didn't I could play around or go hang out with the neighbors.

I was trying to guess what would happen, to see if it was worth it. Then it happened, for the first time.

My head threw itself back, my chest pushed out, my face stuck in an expression of fear. My eyes, the burned. Then the visions came.

Flashes, as I was still inexperienced, of tomorrow.

I was at school; sometimes with my homework, sometimes without, teacher was impressed, teacher was annoyed, sometimes I made a habit of not doing homework, sometimes I never skipped out again.

My eyes filled with tears, and they leaked out quickly. Then my head relaxed, my chest fell, and my face dropped.

The tears continued to fall for what must have been hours as I sat there.

I didn't only see things, I felt them too.

I ended up doing the homework, only to burst out crying when the teacher looked at me, impressed.

The flashes continued to follow me throughout my life, usually when I was stuck between two choices.

Do I go swimming, or stay home?

Do I do extra credit, or not?

Do I call this bitch out, or not?

The flashes showed me possibilities. 10s, 100s, 1000s of things that could happen. Paths I could take and consequences of each.

Usually it was short term, but the more important the decision, the stronger I felt the further I saw.

I told no one, and attempted to make no decisions while with others.

I was 8 when they approached me. Two men, a nicer one and an impatient one.

They told me I was a mutant, and that they wanted me to come with them and train to be one of their agents.

I was stuck in between two choices.

My head thrown back, my chest puffed out, my face scared. And my eyes burned.

Flashes, but stronger and longer than even before greeted me.

Pain

Joy

Frustration

Pleasure

My eyes filled quickly with tears.

Death

Life

I knew some of their sad grim future, the future of shield. Much of could happen, much that won't.

The flashes chasing me throughout my life had matured me, given me a health dose of humility and fear.

I didn't belong in that future. Most of the time I was useless, in the wa, or barely helpful.

There were only a few paths were I was helpful. I didn't belong there, not yet at least.

My body relaxed.

The two men had their hands on their guns, and looked scared. Good.

"I refuse." My voice was strong and prominent, despite the tears flowing out of my eyes.

They backed off, but left me with a waning.

"Shield will be watching, don't make an enemy out of us." I looked at him in disgust.

"Don't make an enemy out of me."

They left me, but I took their warning to heart. I was being watched.

 **(*^*)**

When I first realized my aging had slowed down, I was 13. When I realized it had stopped all together, I was 16.

I had some job and was working towards owning my own place. I had dropped out of school and my parents didn't approve. So I had to leave.

When I got my own place, some small, dingy apartment, I was 17.

I lived there for years, saving money and working the same boring job. I didn't make any choices, I just took orders.

Until I turned 30 and someone asked me if I was 15 years old.

I had to move.

Going out of the country wasn't an option. I bought a fake I.D to lower my legal age a to 18 and they would see right through that.

I needed to go somewhere no one cared, freaks walked around, and no one bothered to look twice.

So I moved to New York City.

I had been saving my money for years, so it wasn't a problem. Though I still got a small, dingy apartment and took some lame job. This time at a library. I restocked books. I enjoyed the honest work.

I took up some hobbies. Sewing, which I had always known how to do, book collecting, my favorite way to get with the times and easier with my current job, and drawing. I enjoyed practicing my art by sketching my flashes, and lately clips, of the many paths of the future.

Practicing my...talent had become a sort of hobby as well. It's how I learned of Emmett, anyway.

Clips of a young boy hiding in an alleyway, that I was considering taking home from work late at night, being tossed around by some guys.

Sometimes I could help, sometimes I couldn't. It's a good thing I knew what to say.

"Excuse me, is that the homeless boy?"

"What's it to ya' bitch?"

"He's who your harrasing for money?" They murmured a bit, but walked off.

"Thank you." A soft voice said. I turned towards the boy, and smiled.

"No problem/" I made to walk off but hesitated, and we all know what happens when I hesitate.

Flashes, clips, even videos of the young boy living with me, living on the streets, dead. Embracing his power, hiding, dead. Feeling loved, cursing humanity, dead.

My body relaxed and I wiped away my tears. The boy seemed surprisingly calm, but very confused.

"Are you a...mutant?" He whispered the word like he didn't want his mom to hear him say a bad word, scared of its potential.

"Are you?" I answered.

We had a staring match, but he eventually looked away.

"Wanna' come with me?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Connor."

"Emmett."


	2. Chapter 2

"Wanna' come with me?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Connor."

"Emmett."

 **(*^*)**

Emmett and I got along just fine. Neither of us talked much, but we appreciated the company, as it took away the bitter feeling of loneliness.

The first time I saw Emmett use his power wasn't really the first, as I had seen it before in flashes and visions.

It was awe inspiring the first time, and so I acted awed when it actually happened, I was used to that by now.

His body transformed, shrinking and growing all at the same time. The only thing that remained the same was his grey hair, now grey fur, and brown eyes.

Emmett was a cat.

"Meow." That's all he said, not like I understood anyway. None the less I treated him like Emmett the human and went on with my day.

The first time Emmett saw me use my power wasn't really the first, as he had seen it is the ally the first time he had met me.

It must have been horrifying, seeing my body spasm and my eyes go blue while me face grew fearful.

I cried, as I always did overwhelmed with the emotions of all the paths combined.

Emmett sat next to me and laid his head on my shoulder. For the first time in a long time, since my powers grew stronger everyday, I stopped crying with my own will.

Emmett and I understood each other, mostly at least. I didn't know his past and he didn't know mine, but we didn't let that stop the simple fact that we appreciated each other.

The first time Shield visited, Emmett remained a cat the length of the meeting.

The Director came to me personally this time, and I have to say he was a very intimidating man. He didn't have a lot to say, but he certainly knew how to say it.

"We at Shield would like your help in something called the Avengers initiative. Interested?" I had seen this before, I knew he was coming over already due to the fact that I had practiced this morning over what type of cereal to have.

"No. But I see Shield has held true to its promise to watch over me." Fury smirked.

"Shield likes to remain as honest as we possibly can." I smiled. "Why the no?" I frowned.

"It's not my place, not yet anyway. When you need me you will know." Fury frowned at this.

"As a sign of good will and a thank you for staying out of trouble, I accept your answer." I nodded respectfully. "But don't think you're of the hook, I'll be back."

The second time Shield visited was a year or so later, I couldn't really tell. Time flies by for me. They sent a friendlier face.

Emmett stayed in the kitchen, eating some random brand of cereal. No wait, it was Apple Jacks.

"I'm here to offer you a second chance. And we, would be much in debt if you were to accept." Coulson was a nice man, but I wasn't needed yet. So I let him know.

"I am not needed yet." Coulson looked surprised. "Yes, things can get worse than this. "Good luck."

I would miss Coulson, but his demise was necessary to the cause. And he would not be gone for too long.

The third time Shield came to me was only a while afterwards, and by an Agent Maria Hills.

I didn't say anything as I gestured to Emmett to grab his overnight bag and I picked up mine.

She didn't say anything as we climbed into the sleek car towards the hoverthing.

Nick Fury greeted me personally, and lead me to a room quickly and quietly. Emmett followed behind me, holding onto the back of my shirt so he didn't get lost in the busy crowd.

Director Fury had a nice office.

"What do I do?" His voice wasn't smug or know-it-all anymore. But desperate and needy.

"Use Coulson."

"But he-" Fury stopped cold when he realized what I was saying. "That wouldn't be a very honest thing to do."

"Neither would letting the world get taken over." He looked at me with a grim look in his eye.

"Thank you."

"No, thank you for letting us stay the night and watch the action safe on you hoverthing." Fury looked at me strangely, but nodded to Agent Hills who then began to lead us away.

"Oh, and Fury." He turned to me. "This won't be the last time you feel hopeless, but it is one of the last times I will help you. Be sure you need me next time."  
He nodded after a few seconds, and Hills continued leading Emmett and I away.

The walk through the hoverthing was an experience in itself. I had my arm around Emmett's shoulders as we walked to our temporary room.

Passing by the control room, I almost stopped when I saw the one and only Captain America standing there, observing. I nudged Emmett, who got an excited look, and Emmett didn't get excited over just anything.

The room was plain. One bed, one dresser, and grey seemed to be the favored color.

The room next to ours was taken, through the cracked door I could see Agent Barton rubbing his sore head, a scene I had seen many times, as well as Agent Romanoff sitting with him and talking him through things.

This was one of the happier endings to Hawkeye's mind control situation and I'm glad it ended this way.

Emmett glanced at me.

"How long will we be here." He looked at me expectantly.

"Depends." He rolled his eyes, making me smile.

"Most likely?"

"A day and a half." He seemed mostly pleased with that answer and thanked me with a nod of his head.

Emmett shifted into a dog, some kind of mix with the same grey fur and brown eyes, and lounged on the bed.

I lounged with him and tried to relax while knowing every possible outcome of this situation.

I didn't like doing that.

The day and a half passed with the third best outcome coming true. Emmett was happy our apartment didn't get destroyed, probably, and I was happy the Avengers were a thing that worked. Because the other outcomes were not very good things.


	3. Chapter 3

Turns out Emmett aged normally. So during his time with me, so far, he grew to be 9 years old.

Also turns out he didn't know how to read. I enrolled him into school the day I found out.

I had grown rather attached to Emmett, living with him as long as I did.

So when he came home with tears in his eyes, I reacted irrationally. He was the one to get me to calm down. And explain he was being teased at school.

"I told you 'cause I wanted to be honest, don't make me regret it." I stopped, mostly so I wouldn't have an episode of visions.

For the next week I watched Emmett come home with tears in his eyes, and I comforted him everyday. Then he came home excited. Well, to the libary excited as I had to work that day so he came to the library to do homework and wait for me to finish with my work as we did whenever I had to work on a school day.

"What's up?" I asked confused.

Did that kid stop?

Did someone help him out?

Did something unrelated happen? Did-

I cut of my thoughts with a deep breath, hoping not to go into a fit at my job. Emmett waited for me to calm down.

"There's a parent work day in class! Will you go?" I hadn't been to school in a great number of years so I had no clue what a parent work day was.

Emmett sighed seeing my confusion.

"You come to my class and talk about your job. Everyone else's parents are gonna' be there. Please." He looked serious.

"Yeah, sure." I didn't want to debate with myself, or chose seriously about something Emmett felt strongly about in public, as we all know what happened when I have to chose, so I agreed and felt good when he beamed at me.

Emmett seemed to like school. He loved to learn and read, at least. I was happy for him. He wouldn't age like I do, he actually needed to get somewhere in life in terms of education and a job before he turned to old.

He already started going through my collection of books, slowly but surely. I had him read out loud and I listened for mistakes. If he made one I would correct him and we moved on.

His favorite was the Harry Potter series, and we were only halfway through the first book.

(*^*)

The next wednesday I took a day off, my first one ever, and got dressed up. Combed my hair and put of a dress shirt and plain tie.

Emmett laughed at me as i adjusted my tie, but combed his usually messy hair as well.

The walk across the street was one we took almost every morning, but instead of dropping him off in front of the school and continuing the block or so, I couldn't tell you anything about directions, to the library, I went inside with him.

I had seen this before, in preparation of any questions I might get and the answers that I should give, but I was still nervous. I really wanted to be a good 'legal guardian' to Emmett.

His classroom seemed brighter and more obnoxious in person.

Other parents stood by their children's desk, so I went with Emmett to his desk and sat on the ground to the left of it.

When Emmett saw a young boy sit next to him, his mood dimmed. That was in almost all of the possibilities, and ruined the day if not solved.

So I stood and motioned to the boy's father and spoke to him in a quiet voice.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but your son has been teasing or bullying, my younger brother lately and this seemed like a good time to tell you." The father seemed angry.

"Thank you so much for telling is unacceptable in this family and I will speak to him tonight." I thanked him with a nod.

He used to bullied, so he hated the fact that his son was bullying Emmett.

Luckily he didn't feel the need to explain all this to me, as he did in many paths.

Emmett looked thankful, albeit amazed. Like he forgot the fact that i could see the many possibility of the future, or thought I wouldn't use it to help him.

I irgoned his look and sat down by him again.

"Thank you." He whispered to me. I turned to him with a gentle smile on my face.

"No problem." His eyes were misty, but he beamed at me, excited as ever.

The teacher started talking and parents went up one at a time to talk about their jobs.

Emmett and I passed the time thumb wrestling or playing rock-paper-scissors. When the teacher called for Emmett Snow's legal guardian, we were bored out of our minds.

We got the idea for Snow from a new show, Game of Thrones.

Emmett liked it, so did I.

I walked to the front of the class calmly, while Emmett bounced in his seat.

"Hi, I'm Connor. I'm Emmett's big brother." A few student waved but almost all of them were bored by now.

"I work at the library across the street." More sat up in their seats at this, younger kids seemed to like library a lot.

"I put books away, find books for people, and check out books for people. Anything with books really." I got a few laughs and a polite chuckle from parents. "My favorite part of my job is finding books or people. What are some of your favorite books? And where did you get them?"

Kids named random books, a parent named some Stephen King Novel, and all of them said they got they from the library.

"That's why my job is so important. I connect bright minds to things to think about, ponder, explore. I brought a few books, actually from my personal collection, for you guys." They got excited at that, everyone likes free things.

"Come on up and grab one."

By the time I got back to my seat all the kids had grabbed a book and were reading or looking at their parents, excited. Except for Emmett.

I told them before not to go up, because it was our books and now he looked sad.

I didn't need to see into the future to know what he wanted.

I pulled out the Harry Potter Book and handed it to him. Emmett was an easy kid to please. And I liked seeing him happy.

When class ended we walked home, as I had taken the day off.

Emmett ducked into an alleyway and came out a mouse. I picked him up and held him in my hands as he fell asleep.

Today was good.

(*^*)

Connor was a very go with the flow guy, Emmett noticed. He hardly ever made a decision and when he did it was at home after much consideration.

When we went to the store he made a list. If he was stuck between two items, he picked the one of the left. Connor even onlined shopped.

When he had conversations with neighbors, he shrugged and 'sure'd' in reply to almost everything.

It seemed like Connor didn't have much of a personality.

But Emmett knew better.

Connor was someone who evaluated everything. He liked to be prepared and hated most surprises.

Someone who liked the norm, liked to blend in, but also liked to be recognized for good work.

Someone who doesn't have many friends, but loyal to those he has.

Most of all, someone who stuck to what he believed in. He believed in his morals and ethics and respected others.

And Emmett liked that.


	4. Chapter 4

Fury didn't show up, or send someone, to get me, when Shield fell.

Which was for the best, seeing as he, or the agent he sent to get me, would have shown up as Hydra climbed the stairs to get to my room.

That was the worst part of shield falling. Hydra knew about me now. And possible Emmett, but he didn't attract to much attention.

Turns out seeing the thousands of possibilities of the future was something Hydra found useful, as Shield did.

It was pure luck that I found out about Shield's fall. I'm not as fan of new networks, or the newspaper, so I had no clue. I had actually overhear two older neighbors.

"The ones from the alien attack, what was it Shield?"

"What about them?"

"The whole organization fell apart. apparently they're evil or something."

"This is why I stay home!"

I had one foot in the door when I heard the gossiping old ladies, sending me into an attack of visions of the future.

Head thrown back, chest puffed out, face frozen in fear. As always, my eyes burned.

Hydra taking over, Shield keeping them at bay, being hunted down, being allowed to live peacefully, fear, calm.

But they kept going.

Iron man's struggle for sanity. Captain America's struggle to fit in, on and on. Delving into complete strangers lives.

But they kept going.

Robots, Ultron and pain. Victory and joy, failure sadness.

Twins lost to their true purpose. Finding a purpose, cursing Stark

What I could do, should do.

But they kept going.

Emmett growing up and leaving me, finding love, feeling out of place, his children calling me grandpa, never knowing about me.

Then my body relaxed, but my eyes continued to burn.

I looked towards the older ladies as they looked back in fear. One of the mumbled out,

"Your eyes..blue." They burned, but blue?

"You will tell no one." My voice band a tint of obey-me and was deeper than normally. They nodded, stuck in place.

My eyes stopped burning and I looked inside the apartment, where Emmett stood scared.

"What's wrong." His voice was low, as it always was when he was scared.

I told him some if the future, including him leaving me.

"Of course you'll be a grandpa." That took away about half of my worries, and honestly the half I cared more about.

I then told him about what we could do to help, what we should do to help.

"I'll follow you." Emmett said, trusting me to do what I knew was right even when I doubted it.

"Let's go, then." We packed up and left, not saying anything to anybody.

We left towards a future of doing what was right, helping the Avengers.

In some paths they didn't need help, in others they did. All I knew was I couldn't take that chance.

So we rented a room in an old farm house out in the middle of nowhere. A very specific farm house.

 **(*^*)**

It wasn't hard to get close to Laura and her kids, they were genuinely nice people. She helped Emmett out and homeschooled him with her kids, which I appreciated. She also cooked really good food every night.

I helped around the house and trying to do what I could to repay her kindness.

I took over caring for the chickens, which I actually enjoyed. Chickens are simple, and had just about no future.

Over the next year or so, I really can't tell anymore, I managed to keep Emmett and I's secrets, secret.

It wasn't as hard as it was in the city seeing as nothing happened and my power is driven by emotion unless acted upon by an outside force.

Emmett slept a dog, always have always will, but that wasn't a real problem. I just told Laura he liked having me wake him up, that it was a tradition for us. She was very respectful, so she didn't question it any.

Over my 50 or so years of life I had learned to control my emotions and now didn't get visions based on my choice of cereal. Though that was more recent.

I still stayed in Emmett and I's room most of the time, despite my self control. Never know what could set me of.

Such as overhearing Laura watching the news.

"Robots! Dear lord."

My body seized and eyes burned. Emmett was by me, and held onto my hand for comfort.

Ultron winning, Ultron losing, pain and suffering, joy and teamwork.

The twins showed up again, but more prominently this time. They were apart of this future now.

Joining Ultron despite the plan, joining the Avengers, loss, win. The boy losing his life, the boy surviving, the girl feeling destroyed, the girl feeling relieved.

A new player showed up in my vision, The Vision. Not being created, loss, being created, win.

My body relaxed itself. So much needed to happen for the Avengers to succeed. I tensed up again.

"Tell me, let me help." Emmett was sent from some form of God above, I was sure of it.

So I did. Emmett managed to calm me down, and get me a tissue for my face.

The twins emotions were extreme, it was hard to handle without breaking down honestly.

But that was beside the point. It was happening, soon.


	5. Chapter 5

I heard the plane before I saw it.

I knew it was happening this week, the avengers would show up after a heavy loss. But I didn't know exactly when.

So Emmett and I stayed in our room passing the time.

I helped him practice his powers, if he got involved in this I wanted him to be experienced and able to fight. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want him to fight, but Emmett's got a mind of his own. So I helped him learn and train.

We started going for jogs and working out more seriously from day 1 at the farm. This week we kicked it up about 20 notches.

Emmett would shift every 15 minutes while jogging and I had to keep a calm mind while Emmett asked me moral/ethical questions while we exercized.

We also were trying to learn more about ourselves, our powers, our histories, and the robots named Ultron.

I now believed that I could project my visions outward and show others if I so pleased, a great attack/offensive move. No one should be able to handle the effects seeing the future has on you, no one honestly can and none but I can struggle through the responsibility.

I believed I had the power to break minds.

Emmett thought he could change little things, and began practicing. Changing the shape of his nose, ears, becoming someone else. It was amazing, honestly, and terrifying when you think about the possibilities, which I did.

But I didn't go into an episode, an amazing result from my training.

I heard the plane land sometime in the afternoon, and spent close to an hour calming down.

Emmett would shift into an ant or something close and tell me what was going on, describing each Avenger to limit the amount of surprise I would have.

The day soon passed and Emmett went out and introduced himself, making up some lie about how I was sick and really only needed to rest. He was starstruck, seeing his heros in the flesh and hearing them say his name. I swear he almost passed out.

It could have been the next day, it could have been later on the same day, but Fury made himself known. It was exciting to hear the reveal in person.

Somehow he didn't recognize Emmett. Which was a little rude to be honest.

But I didn't have time to be sentimental, that was my cue, usually, so I walked out towards the kitchen.

Emmett noticed me first.

"Connor, it's the Avengers!" I gave him a smile, seeing his excited grin was always better in person. They all gave me smiles or little 'hello's, as little as a technical God can be.

"Connor?" That was Fury, this was my favorite part.

"Hey, Fury. It's been a while." Now the Avengers, particularly Hawkeye, were looking at me suspiciously.

"It would be you." I couldn't help but grin. I did like Fury, honest. "I assume you know about them and why they're here?" I nodded respectfully. "This is Connor, Shield has been in contact with him for 40 something years." Laura just about did a spit take while the rest of they looked me up and down.

"40? You wouldn't have happened to be frozen in ice for any amount of time, would you?" Stark, he was funny. Steve didn't think so, though. SO I got to the point pretty quickly.

"No, I've been walking for all of them. I happen to be a mutant." This cleared the confusion from most of their faces.

"Not any mutant either." Fury announced. "This one likes to see the Future." Now they looked interested, that always seemed to grab them.

I sat by Emmett and nodded.

"I do have that ability, yes." Laura walked out at that point, not like I could blame her.

"So you know what we should do?" Captain spoke. I nodded. "What?" I grinned.

"Can't give away all of my secrets, come on guys." My slang had improved. Clint chuckled while Thor looked really confused.

"Why not? If you can help us defeat the Ultrons, why keep a secret?" I sighed.

"Because. That's the way it works." That only served to further his confusion, but the conversation moved away from me at that point.

They went on about what they should do, then prepared to leave.

I stood with them. Clint looked at me.

"Sorry kid, not for you." I shook my head.

"On the contrary. It very much is time for my public appearance." He just rolled her eyes and nodded to the rest of them.

That's right, it was my first public appearance. I would be labeled and judged. This would suck.

When they landed they got into position and began their fight.

The twins joined in and it got very dramatic. This was a better version.

The Vision was there, too. This was the way better version. They barely needed me.

I walked around, avoiding potential fights and observing. Whenever someone got to close Emmett would become a rhino and trample them. He grew up good.

Then a very dramatic moment came. Clint grabbed the kid and shielded him from the incoming bullets with his body, Pietro saw this and ran towards the battle.

I rather Wanda not go through her whole emotional spiel, as that would set me off, so I intervened.

My eyes burned, but my body didn't seize. My mind grew strong, although my emotions ran rampant and in control. The emotions I felt for Wanda burst through, physical power exploded from me and raced faster than Pietro towards Clint.

The bullets hit my power and dispersed. Clint gave me a surprised glance, but got back to the battle at hand. Pietro looked really thankful, as he would have had to sacrifice himself.

I had to present myself in a special way to the Avengers. Wise, strong, beyond their power, but willing to help.

It was very important they think of me as a savior.

Very important.

The battle ended, the Hulk was nowhere to be seen, but Quicksilver was there.

We won.


End file.
